|
 The move by the Obama administration came after shippers vowed to
prevent the loading and unloading of freight through Monday from
container ships at the 29 ports, barring a settlement in talks with
the dockworkers' union.
The shipping companies said they were unwilling to pay union workers
higher wages for weekend shifts and the Presidents Day holiday on
Monday while productivity declines and cargo backups reach the point
of near gridlock, after months of chronic congestion in freight
traffic.
The impact of the dispute has rippled through the U.S. commercial
supply chain, slowing deliveries of a wide range of goods, from
agricultural produce to housewares and apparel.
"The negotiations over the functioning of the West Coast ports have
been taking place for months with the administration urging the
parties to resolve their differences," White House spokesman Eric
Schultz said.
"Out of concern for the economic consequences of further delay, the
president has directed his Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to travel to
California to meet with the parties to urge them to resolve their
dispute quickly at the bargaining table."
 Perez has been in contact with the parties and will keep the
president updated, he said.
On Friday, negotiators for the union representing 20,000 dockworkers
at the ports and management's bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime
Association, agreed to a federal mediator's request for a 48-hour
news blackout. The two sides held a bargaining session on Thursday
that marked their first face-to-face meeting in nearly a week.
The association has said the talks hit a new snag over a demand by
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for changes in the
system of binding arbitration in contract disputes.
[to top of second column] |
Retailers had long pressed President Barack Obama to intervene in
the dispute. In a statement, a National Retail Federation official
welcomed the White House announcement.
"The slowdowns, congestion and suspensions at the West Coast ports
need to end now," said the statement from Jonathan Gold, the
federation's vice president for supply chain.
By Saturday morning, 32 freighters were waiting to dock at the ports
of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, which are the nation's
two busiest cargo hubs, said Lee Peterson, a spokesman for the port
of Long Beach.
Shippers first suspended vessel operations at the ports for two days
last weekend and again on Thursday, a union holiday. Port operations
resumed in full for one eight-hour shift on Friday before the
loading and unloading of container ships was halted again.
The West Coast ports were not left entirely dormant. The companies
said work continues in the dockyards, rail yards and terminal gates
as they seek to clear some of the cargo containers already stacked
up on the waterfronts.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in San Francisco; Editing by
Frances Kerry, Clelia Oziel and Gunna Dickson)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
